Paul Poteet: Warmer today; severe weather chance Wednesday

Add about 10 degrees to Monday's weather, and you've got today's forecast. Consider this week payback for last week. Wednesday is still the only trouble spot. Today's highs will be a degree or two on either side of 80 across central Indiana, and the wind will be frisky again, with southwest winds gusting to 25 mph.

Paul Poteet's Tuesday, May 20, weather forecast
Paul Poteet

A warm front moves across Indiana today, giving us the first day above average since last Tuesday. It will stay hot Wednesday, while we wait on a cold front to move through the state. The chance of showers and storms with the front starts after midnight tonight. The shower chance Wednesday is with us all day, but I don't think the radar will be lit up all day. The main time of concern remains mid afternoon through evening. Plenty of instability is expected and that may translate to thunderstorms that produce damaging wind or large hail. At the very least, you may need to run your wipers as you take the minivan for a spin around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for Community Day.

Wednesday’s severe weather outlook
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Paul Poteet
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The front moves out of central Indiana by Thursday morning, setting the state for a string of partly to mostly sunny days that should stretch through Sunday. Temperatures behind the front will return to nearly normal numbers Thursday and Friday, and then start heading upward. Everything is lining up in our weekend favor. There will be high pressure, both at the surface and above us. There might be enough of a breakdown in the pattern to bring some scattered storms into the mix Monday, but that's just a slight chance for the moment.

Seven-day forecast
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Paul Poteet
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My Race Day forecast remains the same at 78 degrees. That's exactly 10 degrees warmer than last year. There were almost some later day showers last year. The last really hot Race Day was two years ago, with a high of 91. A fitting kick off to the long, hot summer that followed.